Families, friends say goodbye

Death toll hits 97 in Rhode Island as questions remain

WEST WARWICK, R.I. — For days, they've lived with the video images of their relatives jammed in the doorway of a burning nightclub, many screaming in terror as they struggled in vain to break free.

On Sunday, for the first time, the parents, siblings and children of the dozens of victims who couldn't escape were allowed to walk up to the charred rubble of The Station nightclub to pray and say goodbye.

Their visit came as the death toll from the tragedy was raised to 97, after the governor announced that yet another body had been pulled from the debris.

They stepped off buses into the rain outside the club, where firefighters had left dozens of roses for them to hold or place at a makeshift memorial, already piled high with cards and flowers.

At least one person was overcome and taken to an ambulance.

"These families are going through such a tragedy, such an emotional odyssey right now, and their hearts are broken, and they still don't know in many cases whether their loved one has been positively ID'd," said Gov. Don Carcieri, who met with the families several times in the days after a rock band's pyrotechnics turned The Station into a raging inferno.

On Sunday, he ordered a no-fly zone within 5 miles of the site to give the families privacy to mourn.

The heavy metal band Great White was just getting into its first song Thursday night when sparks from the pyrotechnics ignited foam tiles in the ceiling and quickly spread flames over the crowd of more than 300. Officials said the entire building was engulfed in three minutes.

Little remains of the one-story, wooden nightclub today but ashes.

Against one partial wall were bouquets of flowers, stuffed animals and American flags. Amid the growing makeshift memorial are high school pictures, poems, even an unopened can of Budweiser.

Three days after the fire, questions remained about whether the band had permission to set off the fireworks--and whether anyone should face charges in the deadly blaze.

The club did not have a permit for the special effects. While the leader and an attorney for the band have said the group got permission from the club before setting off the special effects, the club's owners insist they never approved pyrotechnics use.